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Police bring home the bacon: stolen Sydney cafe animals found in Victoria

Updated
Tue 29 Oct 2013, 9:01 AM AEDT

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Kevin Bacon the pig and Bradley the lamb were stolen from The Grounds of Alexandria cafe in Sydney earlier this month.

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A search for a pig and a lamb stolen from an inner Sydney cafe earlier this month has ended with the farm animals being found in Victoria.

Kevin Bacon the pig and Bradley the lamb were kidnapped from the Grounds of Alexandria cafe on Huntley Street in Alexandria in the early hours of October 7.

CCTV footage showed a woman and two men breaking into the complex and stealing the popular pets from a barn outside the cafe.

Police searched the surrounding area at the time but failed to locate the animals, despite the cafe's owners offering a $5,000 reward for their return.

The pair have now turned up interstate - about 10 hours drive from their trendy inner Sydney abode.

Investigators have been told the animals were dropped off at a sanctuary near the Victorian town of Orbost about 10 days ago.

But a local vet had to be called after Kevin Bacon showed signs of anxiety and became seriously ill.

Dr David Mitchell says the pig had a serious infection and septicaemia.

"[It] was causing a high temperature and problems with its white cells," he said.

"So I took the pig from the sanctuary to the vet clinic where it was treated reasonably intensively for a few days.

"Once it recovered it was re-united with its friend Bradley the sheep."

The cafe's Facebook page has received hundreds of messages from delighted fans of the farm animals.

A statement on the page says plans are being made to return the pair to their home.

"On behalf of everyone here at The Grounds of Alexandria, we’d like to thank the community and media for their unbelievable support since Kevin and Bradley were taken from their home with us," it reads.

"We held genuine concern for their safety after thieves broke in and we have now increased security to ensure this will never happen again."